“And that’s when he told me he has to focus on learning himself. Learn what he wants in a man. Some shit like that.”

“Which was right before you caught him leaving with that guy in the gym tank, right?”

“Right.” River Connor tipped his head back to finish the dregs of his beer, then sighed and leaned back into the booth. They’d gotten to Woody’s early to nab one so they could talk.

“Arrrrgh.” Kyle groaned in sympathy for him. He had a man of his own now, but it wasn’t that long ago they’d both been convinced they’d never find one.

Well, “not that long” was relative. It felt like ages since they’d been out. They’d both been busy: River hunting for his new job; Kyle setting up Plus’s new office, since the charity he worked at had relocated after the fire.

At the office reopening party last weekend, Kyle had cottoned on that there might be someone and had insisted he come find out more.

Unfortunately, things tended to move fast in River’s life, and Mr. Maybe Next had become another one-night-stand.

“He was never your type, then, babe. They do that. He was trying you out. Don’t let them get to you.”

“I knowww,” River sighed. “But… you know.”

“Yeah. Oh, yeah.” If anyone understood River’s predicament, it was Kyle. Tall, with bright green hair, and gorgeous, he was also femme in the eye-catching kind of way that didn’t improve dateability.

They were often seen as easy to spot, easy to fuck, but not boyfriend material. Not discreet, masculine, gym-addicted guys with chiseled jaws and respectable jobs. Not the guy you’d bring home to your parents. Which was a thing they did, because they were the normal kind of gays with families and mortgages—the kind who were only different from the straights because they loved another man.

Not the kind who had to watch their backs walking down dark alleys, who’d abandoned the idea of family being about blood, and who loved themselves and each other too fiercely to stay in arbitrary boxes that didn’t fit.

River had long ago decided he didn’t care about dating, anyway. He lived in the moment.

“Anyway, we need to do this more than once a month. Look at you. Get a boyfriend and suddenly forget about me?” River scolded Kyle. Sure, Nic was good for him, but the two of them were lost in each other.

Kyle just laughed. “We’ll get more friend time when you’re back from the tour,” he promised. “The office is almost set up, my crazy overtime is winding up.”

“Good.” River intended to hold him to that.

“But…”

“You have to get going. Let me guess, your boyfriend’s made dinner,” River teased. “Or he’s done something cute. He sent you a cute selfie. Maybe he’s coding something cutely.”

Kyle flipped him off. “Fuck off.”

“Love you too, babe.” River rose to his feet to hug Kyle good night and kissed his cheek, then let him scamper off home.

He was thinking about following, but one more scan of the crowd couldn’t hurt. He’d often found the best nights of his life in that one last scan. Also some terrible mistakes when he ran low on options, but…

There. A guy who looked familiar.

Not in the same way as most guys here—even on the outskirts of L.A., every club had its regulars—but something else.

The guy River was watching turned fully to say something to a friend, his profile caught in the light behind the bar, and River’s jaw dropped.

Now, that’s a blast from the past!

Zeph North. He’d bet his life on it.

And all grown up. Shit, he had muscles now, and his face had filled out around that roguish smile. He carried himself with confidence, not the proactively defensive attitude that he’d once projected.

And he wasn’t flirting with that friend, either. Good. Not that River had any right to care, but he couldn’t help but wonder… was Zeph single now? What had he been up to in the last five years?

River couldn’t stop himself walking over there to find out.

He didn’t even have to slow down to pick his way around the couple of narrow tables and pillars in the way. The club was River’s stage, even when he wasn’t performing here. He knew it better than some of his ex-boyfriends’ dicks.

“Zeph North, the man whose name takes longer to pronounce than tying a cherry stem with my tongue.”

Zeph’s jaw dropped at the sight of him, and then he laughed. “River. Wow. Did you never leave?”

“No. They won’t let me go home. But they keep me fed with the only complete protein.” Zeph tilted his head, and River winked. “Did you know how many loads it takes per day to meet your caloric—oh! Sorry,” River apologized to Zeph’s friend, beaming at him. “Where are my manners?”

Zeph’s friend was just laughing as he waved off the comment. “A lot?”

“A lot,” River agreed, but his gaze was already on Zeph again.

Impossible not too look at him, with the clingy white t-shirt showing every fucking ripple of muscle he’d once had and then a lot more. His arms were tattooed now, too—the one he’d had before, plus another across his chest.

River kind of wanted to peel Zeph’s clothes off and find out what else was the same.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” Zeph murmured, raising a brow. Just like old times, the expression felt like a challenge to River, who had to fight back the urge to respond in kind.

“Thanks.” River leaned his hip against the table. “How did the move go? What have you been up to? We should catch up.”

“Yeah.” Zeph gave him one of those rare full smiles—or rare back then, at least. River hoped for his sake that he was happier now. When Zeph stretched out a hand for his phone, River dug it out, unlocked it, and opened a new contact while accepting Zeph’s phone in return.

He had to scroll past the useless recently-used emoji section to add a kissing emoji to his name after he typed it in. That was a good sign, right? But Zeph wasn’t the type to flirt by emoji anyway.

Again, River had to remind himself, hadn’t been.

He’d hardly known Zeph back then, let alone now.

Maybe it was the thrill of the chase, but when they handed back each other’s phones and their hands brushed, River felt a shiver down his spine.

Since Zeph was out with a friend, he’d leave him be… for tonight. With his phone number now, River had plenty of time to get him warmed up by text.

“Perfect.” River pocketed his phone, winked, then blew a kiss at them both. “Don’t let me keep you. Bye, darling.”

He swanned off to the other side of the room without looking back, but he felt Zeph’s eyes on him as keenly as he always had. When Zeph looked away, he knew because the tingle of being watched faded.

Jesus. Just like old times indeed.

It felt like Zeph’s finger brushing lightly down his spine, from the back of his neck all the way down to his ass, promising… ecstasy. Promising those strong arms around him, the strong lips against his…

And River was horny now. He ducked out of the club without even saying good night to anyone, striding down the street toward his place. Halfway there, he got a text.

Great seeing you. Let me know how you’ve been.

River didn’t need a guy by his side tonight. Not with the vivid memory of Zeph buried deep inside River, his legs wrapped around his waist as Zeph fucked him against the glass shower wall.

River needed a hot shower and a few minutes alone before he could even think of answering that text.